Recent experience. Driving north on A329(M), approx 85-ish. car pulls out in front of me so I back off & we both overtake. He then hangs in the outside lane and I wait patiently for him to pull back across. In the meantime a car pulls up behind and tailgates me until the guy in front pulls over, then flicks on a set of blue lights. I pull over as I would have done and he drives on past. Obviously just used the lights to get me out of the way because they were only on for 15 seconds or so.

I would have accepted a telling off or a fixed penalty, it would have been a fair cop but I was really annoyed at him tailgating me, overtaking aggressively (going past while I still had a wheel in the outside lane) and particularly the abuse of the blue lights.

I've seen enough to convince me that there are some amazingly good police drivers out there but there's also some really bad ones, not to mention those with an attitude to match.

I remember coming back up for Donington in Febuary, it was foggy as hell, two cars overtook me on the M1, one right up the sh*tter of the other, i was amazed to seee this was a police car! Car in front moved over and police car continued on..........

[img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Theres good and theres bad.

Rich.

"not hiding in bushes with speed cameras being sucked off by a police dog whilst eating doughnuts"

beautiful illustration AP...beautiful! :D

I'm so glad someone else feels this!

Where I live the local police have a Nissan Patrol marked car. The regular driver of this seems to take great pleasure in driving around 3 feet from the back bumper of anyone he follows.

Generally I slow down when he does this to around 30mph (whatever the limit) and he eventually backs off, but it is really irritating.

On speaking to the locals they told me to make a note of the car details and the time and location then report it. They will then warn the driver.

Laurence

Jump on the middle pedal, that'll show 'em :D

It's performance indicators. Another problem with the Government in this country. The police have to arrest a certain number of people for a certain number of minor offences. Clear-up rates are important. The assumption is that these offences are going on, therefore the police have to find them and show that they are dealing with a certain proprtion of them. If that means 'creating' the offence by forcing people to go faster and then arrest them, or lying about speeds (see other threads), then they will. They're jobs often depend on it. Thus, they are less likely now to simply say 'slow-down' if you are caught doing 35mph in a 30 zone.

Policing in this country has changed a lot in recent years as a result of performance indicators.

Examples:

A fight in a pub or drunken disorderly conduct was normally dealt with, if appropriate, by a night in the cells. Now, it is more likely that the individuals involved will be facing a criminal conviction for a public order offence and the system will be put tothe time and expense of dealing with a couple of youngsters who will now have criminal records for a 'nothing' incident.

Also, performance indicators do not take into account not-guilty verdicts, lying complainants, exaggeration, mis-understood reporting of criminal offences.

Robbery is basically theft with the use or threat of force. A bag snatch where the victim did not see it, or did not have time to react might not be a robbery. Taking an item from someone with permission and then running off with it is not robbery, but many complainants, embarrassed at being duped, make up claims of force used. The statistics say for example there have been 100 robberies this month. 20 have resulted in acquittals, that means 20 are considered unsolved. That isn't a correct analysis, but it is the analysis adopted - the complainant might be lying and the jury may have thought that the claim was vexatious. Or the jury might not have thought it was a robbery - a theft would have been the more appropriate charge because there was no violence used. But it is still charged as robbery, the jury acquit or the complainant doesn't turn up and it goes down as unsolved and the statistics say the police are failing. They get flack and they up the ante. They start making errors in collecting evidence, don't check exonerative lines of enquiry because of course their suspect did it, so why bother and someone innocent gets convicted.

The system fails, in part, when the police are subjected to performance indicators because it costs more to administer and the police have to meet them so make dubious decisions in order to do so.

Maz.

Maz: What doom and gloom :(

Law and Order needs a shake up in this country.

I have seen "blue light abuse" in Reading on several occassions where the police driver obviously can't be bothered to wait for the traffic lights - blue lights on, over the lights, and off again.

Also got "parped" by a police driver when I stopped sharpish at traffic lights - he thought I was stopping because they had that second turned amber - I was in fact giving way to an ambulance coming from the side road with blue lights on. Policeman did give an acknowledging wave though as I glared into my mirror :D

They are all scum :D



well they are...... when one helps me out i might change my mind oneday. Untill then they are scum

My other half has seen marked cars with lights and sirens on, around the Chobham/Windlesham area, overtaking and making other cars get out of the way, to then see them a bit further on her journey parked in a layby eating sandwiches [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

I don't normally find myself defending the Traffic Police, but some of the time, these incidents might be the result of the incident that the cops are racing to being a false alarm or something else which means it's no longer an emergency. I'm sure that abuse goes on, but there might also be another reason.

We always think the worst of the police, but expect the benefit of the doubt from them... *sigh*

Like all professions. Some are good at what they do and appreciate the power they have. Others are plain nobbers who have no friends and feel "Big" in their Omegas.

I have the utmost respect for the police force on the whole, however I do feel they should prioritise more with there resources (murders, rapes etc) not hiding in bushes with speed cameras being sucked off by a police dog whilst eating doughnuts.

God I am in a bad mood today...please see my thresd "!!ATTENTION!! Lane Discipline!"

[Edited by Senior_AP - 6/7/2002 7:56:01 PM]